A Family Bond
by Kristen3
Summary: When David receives a surprise gift from Frasier, it makes everyone realize just how close the family is, despite the distance. One-shot.


**Author's Note: **This story came about randomly, after Jane Leeves tweeted a picture of herself unsuccessfully playing with a yo-yo. I decided to see what I could do with that, and this resulted. Just a bit of fluff, but I hope people enjoy anyway!

Daphne entered the apartment, carrying the mail. She quickly flipped through most of it. Bills, advertisements from Niles' favorite wine shop, and other ordinary things. Nothing interesting. But then she saw a package addressed to David Crane, with a return address in Chicago. "David, you've got mail!" She called up the stairs to her son, who was probably doing his homework, or, more likely playing on the computer. When he did not immediately respond, she tried again. "It's from your uncle Frasier, and it looks like a present!"

That got a reaction. David came down the stairs in seconds. Daphne gave him the package, and he tore it open. He discarded the note which came with the gift, focusing instead on the toy. It was a yo-yo. Hardly fancy, but David gasped at it. "Wow!" While he admired his new toy, Daphne read the note her son had ignored. _David – I know this is a bit old-fashioned, but I came across this and thought you might like to have it. It was mine when I was a boy. Your father had one, too, I believe. Love, Uncle Frasier_ Daphne smiled. It was so like her brother-in-law to do something like this. He and Charlotte were still together and happy, but they couldn't agree on children yet. So, Frasier had decided his old yo-yo could find a better home with his only nephew.

Daphne glanced over at her son, surprised to find him happily playing with the yo-yo. He seemed to know what he was doing. "You're good at that," she remarked, walking over to him.

David grinned at her. "Yeah. A kid at school had one one day. He taught me a couple tricks. It's not that hard." He shrugged, a bit embarrassed.

"We had one of those when I was growing up," Daphne said, remembering. "Me brothers kept stealing it from me. But I did manage to learn a trick or two. I wonder if I can still do them."

"You want to give it a try?" David stopped doing his tricks and held the toy out to her.

"All right. It's been a long time, though!" Grinning, she slipped the string around her finger. She hoped it would be like riding a bike. Maybe her fingers would remember what to do, even after all this time. But she was quickly proven wrong, as she could do nothing more than make the yo-yo hang there, turning slowly in mid-air. It began to twist around.

"No, Mom, you've got to do it like this!" David took the yo-yo back. "You've got the string all twisted now." He shook his head in annoyance as he began to untwist it. Fortunately, it wasn't as badly twisted as he'd thought, and soon, David was back to showing off his skills. Daphne tried to watch what he was doing, but he was going much too fast. All she could do was watch in amazement.

Niles entered the apartment and froze in the doorway. The sight which greeted him was completely unexpected. David was playing with a yo-yo, making it spin all over the place. "Hey, Dad!" The boy quickly caught the yo-yo, looking as if he'd done this all his life.

"Hello, son," Niles replied, nervously approaching. "Where did you get the yo-yo?"

"Uncle Frasier sent it to me. Isn't it neat?"

"Um, yes. I seem to recall playing with one of these when I was a boy."

"Were you any good?"

"I'm afraid not, David. Broke my nose." Niles winced, remembering the pain and blood which had resulted.

"I was just showing Mom some tricks a kid at school taught me. It's not as cool as my computer games, but still pretty interesting."

"Yes. You should call your uncle and let him know how much you loved his present." Daphne gave her son a look, letting him know this was more of an order than a suggestion. He was a good boy, but David often wasn't always very responsible about things like thank-you notes.

"All right, Mom. I bet he'd be impressed with all my tricks, huh?"

Niles nodded. "Frasier and I were never good at anything that involved hand-eye coordination."

Daphne smiled at her husband, slipping her arms around his waist. "That's not true. You're a wonderful dancer."

"That's because I had such a wonderful teacher." Niles kissed her.

For a moment, Daphne was aware of nothing else but her husband. After all this time, they still could do this. A single memory could take them back in time, and everything else fell away.

David watched his parents, realizing that they no longer knew he was in the room. "Um, I think I'll go call Uncle Frasier now..." He slowly backed away, not wanting to watch his parents gaze into each other's eyes like this.

As he went upstairs, David continued playing with the yo-yo. He was hardly an expert, but he'd mastered the basics to the point that they came naturally. It felt good to have something come so easily to him, especially something fun. He was a good student, but most of his friends were unimpressed with his skills in the classroom. True to his word, David made his way into his parents' room. He sat on the bed and picked up the phone on his father's nightstand. He knew his uncle's number in Chicago. His parents called Frasier frequently.

"Hi, Uncle Frasier! It's me, David!"

Frasier beamed with pride when he heard his young nephew's voice. "Hello, David. Did you get anything interesting in the mail today?"

"Yup! I got the yo-yo! Thanks! I already knew some tricks from a kid at school. Mom was impressed. I don't think Dad was, though."

"Yes, well, your father and I were never any good at that sort of thing. But I'm glad you liked it."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. I wish you were here so I could show you all the tricks I can do!"

Frasier felt the familiar desire to return to Seattle immediately. "Well, it's enough to hear you so excited about it. I promise, I'll come visit you guys soon. Give your mom and dad a hug and a kiss for me! I do miss all of you."

David nodded. "Mom and Dad miss you, too. Especially Dad."

"I know, David. I feel the same way, believe me. I've got an awful lot of work to do, so I have to go now. But you be good, OK? And keep working on those yo-yo tricks. I'll be expecting to see them all in person soon!"

"I bet by the time you get here, I'll know a billion of them!"

Frasier chuckled. "Well, I'll settle for a thousand, OK? Remember what I said about being good. Your parents mean well, so give them a break."

"OK, Uncle Frasier."

Frasier hung up the phone, knowing that he and Charlotte needed to take a trip back to his favorite city very soon.

* * *

Downstairs, Niles and Daphne were still lost in each other. "I still can't believe it. I spent hundreds of dollars buying David a new computer and every game imaginable. But what he really gets excited about is an old yo-yo that my brother gives him!"

Daphne kissed her husband gently. "It's just a phase, darling. David's good with that yo-yo. You should've seen some of the tricks he was doing. I could hardly believe me eyes!"

Now Niles was smiling. "Well, I am proud to have a son who's so willing to try his hand – literally – at a thing like that. I lasted all of thirty seconds before I was rushed to the emergency room. This has to be your doing, Daphne. David's such a remarkable boy, and I know that must come from you."

"Maybe so, but I know that many of David's other qualities are definitely from you. That's why we're so lucky – he got the best parts of both of us."

Just then, David came back down the stairs. "Uncle Frasier says hi."

Both Niles and Daphne turned to look at their son. His presence had broken the spell they'd been under. "I'm glad you talked to him," Daphne said. "I know he always loves hearing from his favorite nephew!"

David nodded. "Yup. I told him how much you guys miss him, and he said he'll come visit soon. I can't wait to show him what I can do with this!" He took the yo-yo out of his pocket and began playing with it again.

As Niles watched his son, an idea began to form. "You know who else would like to see you do that? Your grandfather."

"Yeah, I hadn't even thought about showing Grandpa. Can we do that soon?!"

Niles glanced at his wife, and found that she was smiling. The Crane family certainly had a history of bickering. Daphne had witnessed a lot of arguing over the years. But at times like these, she realized that now amount of disagreement could ever break the bond this family had formed. It was something she could never take for granted.

**The End**


End file.
